Magazine safety razor



Dec. 8, 1942. J. MUROS MAGAZINE SAFETY RAZOR 2 SheetsSheet 1 Filed Aug. 30, 1941 J. MUROS MAGAZINE SAFETY RAZOR Filed Aug. 30, 1941 Dec. 8, 1942.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Z ll/10111111111 Patented Dec. 8, 1942 MAGAZINE SAFETY RAZOR Joseph Muros, Cambridge, Mass, assignor to Gillette Safety Razor Company, Boston, Man, a corporation of Delaware Application August so, 1941, Serial No. 408,945

Claims.

This invention relates to safety razors of the magazine type in which a supply of sharp fresh blades is maintained in position adjacent to the razor head and convenient feeding means s p vided for delivering one blade at a time into shaving position in the razor as required by the user. An important characteristic of th razor of my invention is that a fresh blade may be delivered at any time without interrupting the shaving operation and without the necessity for cleaning the razor of lather or shaving cream.

In one aspect my invention consists in a safety razor and magazine so organized that the blade of such composition and consistency as to proin use is always positively backed up in shaving position and is positively held against retracting movement, not only while in shaving position but during all stages of the blade-feeding operation. One wa of efiecting these desired results is to provide the magazine with a blade-engaging shoulder which determines the shaving position of th blade in the razor head and also to provide positive means for engaging a blade so held by the shoulder and advancing it from the position so determined in ejecting the used blade. The

used blade is ejected in one operation of the feeding means and a new blade is advanced to the positioning shoulder as a subsequent operation of the feeding means in the same predetermined path.

Another feature of my inventionoonsists in a safety razor and magazine so organized that the feeding means operates to advance one blade at a time in a path limited to one-half the width of the blade, that is to say, the blade is advanced one-half of its width to shaving position and ejected in subsequent movement of one-half its width. This cycle of operation permits a very compact safety razor structure and the employment of rapidly acting feeding means, since actual movement of the blade from the magazine is reduced to the minimum distance required for presenting the edge of the blade in shaving position and then for ejecting the used blade.

Another feature of my invention consists in a magazine-enclosing casing cut away in its end portions to expose the magazine and the blades therein, but being intact and transversely stationary throughout its body portion, in combination with a transversely movable feeding device having arms arranged to embrace the intact intermediate portion of the casing between them and to act upon the exposed ends of the uppermost blade in the magazine to advance it from beneath the stationary top of the casing. In

tect the blades fully against rust and still permit free movement thereof in the magazine and in being delivered from it into shaving position.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figs. 1 and 2 are views of the razor in side elevation, showing the blade-feeding member in two different positions, the magazine being omitted in these views:

Fig. 3 is a view corresponding to Fig. 1 except that the magazine is shown in place in the razor;

Fig. 4 is a view in side elevation, partly in section, corresponding to Fig. 3 but showing the razor head in depressed position;

Fig. 5 is a view of the razor in rear elevation, showing th magazine partially withdrawn from operative position;

Fig. 6 is a view of the handle in longitudinal section; 1

Figs. 7 and 8 are plan views of the razor head as seen from above, showingthe blade-feeding member in positions corresponding respectively to thoseof Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 9 is a plan view of the magazine as seen from above;

Fig. 10 is a view of the magazine in longitudinal section on the line III-l0 of Fig. 9;

Fig, 11 is aview in perspective and on an enlarged scale showing portions of a blade and of the razor head; and

Figs. 12 and 13 are cross-sectional views of the magazine on the line |3l3 of. Fig. 9 showing the contained blade in two diiferent positions within the magazine.

The safety razor and magazine shown in the illustrative embodiments of my invention are designed to employ a flat, narrow, single-edged blade 30 having a rectangular feeding notch 3| in eachof its unsharpened ends, located substantially symmetrically in the blade midway between the safety razors heretofore known, where the its front and rear edges. The blade is bestshown in Figs. 9 and 11. The safety razor and magazine about to be described are, therefore, given their specific shape in order to adapt them for handling blades of this particular type but for no other reason. They may be appropriately modified within the scope of the invention to handle other and different types of blades.

As herein shown the safety razor includes in its structure a hollow handle I 0, reduced in diameter toward its upper end and provided with a solid flange I I which is substantially square in' contour. In the bore of the handle is provided a movable spindle I2 extending at its lower end into an enlarged chamber and there provided with a collar I3 against which bears the upper end of a compression spring I4. The spring I4 encircles the lower end of the spindle and is supported at its lower end by a threaded plug I5 which closes the lower end of the chamber in the handle and may be reached externally for adjustment.

The head of the razor includes a rectangular metal casing I6 disposed horizontally, constituting an enclosure for a magazine and being open at both ends and continuous in periphery except for a longitudinal exit slot I9 in its front wall just beneath its top wall. The top wall of the casing I6 is curved downwardly at its front edge and slightly overhangs the front wall. The front wall is formed integral with a forwardly and downwardly extending guard member I! which underlies the edge of the blade when the razor is organized for shaving and, with the forward edge of the top wall, determines the edge exposure of the blade. The casing I6 is carried by the spindle I2, the upper end of which is threaded to be screwed into the lower wall of the casing. The casing is, therefore, bodily movable up and down with the spindle l2 in respect to the handle and may be pressed downwardly by hand against the compression of the spring I4 as will be presently described. The top plate of the casing is open or cut away at both ends so as to expose the ends of the uppermost blade of the stack contained in a magazine, as will be presently explained. The bottom plate of the casing is provided with a pair of parallel, downwardly-projecting guide ribs I8 extending transversely and interlocking with grooves or slots in the blade feeding member to prevent angular displacement between the two.

The blade-feeding member is not free to partake of the vertical movement of the casing I6 but is mounted for transverse movement on the handle in a predetermined straight line path. It

path. The bottom plate 20 of the feeding member is also provided with transverse slots or guide grooves to receive the ribs I8 already mentioned as projecting from the bottom of the casing I6.

from the back plate 2| of the feeding member. I

In Fig. 4 a leaf spring 21 is shown as'introduced between the lever 25 and the handle of the razor. In this case the operator depresses the end of the lever 25 to move the feed member rearwardly from the position shown in Fig. l to the position shown in Fig. 2 and the spring 21 is adapted to return the parts automatically to their initial position. If the spring 21 is not employed the operator has merely to press the feeding member back into initial position by hand,

The blade magazine herein shown as employed in the combination is rectangular in its shape, having internal dimensions selected to receive the blades 30 and external dimensions making it suitable to fit within the casing I6 of the razor. The top plate 34 of the magazine slightly overhangs the front wall thereof and a blade exit slot is provided just beneath it in the front Wall. The

top plate is cut off at both ends to register with the cut-off top plate of the casing I6 and so expose the ends of the uppermost blade in the stack. The top plate 34 is also provided with a longitudinal recess and shoulder in its inner face, the shoulder being properly located positively to back up the blade in its shaving position. The magazine includes also a leaf spring 35 arranged to urge the stack of blades in the magazine at all times upwardly, its line of contact being offset so includes in its structure a bottom plate 20, a back plate 2I extending upwardly at right angles thereto and two forwardly extending overhanging arms 22. The arm-s 22 are spaced to embrace between them the top plate of the casing I6, where the latter is cut away for that purpose. and are deflected downwardly at their forward ends to serve as spring feed dogs or pawls 23 adapted to fit into the notches 3| of the blade. These dogs are both notched so that an inner portion of each rests upon the upper face of the blade while the outer portion is free to enter the notch 3t, as shown in Fig. 11, but is not permitted to pass entirely through the notch by reason of the partial face engagement with the blade.

The bottom plate 20 of the blade-feeding member is provided on its lower face with ways 24, see Fig. 5, arranged to embrace and slide upon the edges of the square flange I I of the razor handle. The feeding member is thus held against angular displacement and may be pushed by the user both forwardly and rearwardly in its predetermined as to tilt the stack of blades transversely upwardly about the longitudinal shoulder of the'top plate 34 and press the uppermost blade of the stack yieldingly against the feed dogs 23. When the magazine is filled with blades the stack is initially downwardly and rearwardly inclined to a slight degree as shown in Fig. 13. The two inner front corners of the magazine are made solid and bevelled to center the blades in the magazine.

As already stated the magazine is completely packed with grease 36 about the blade. stack and the spring 35 so that no water may enter it or reach the blades. At the same time the consistency of the grease is such as not to interfere with the movement of the blade stack or of the individual blades. The blades are thus protected against rusting and the razor may be repeatedly flushed in hot water without danger in this respect.

The magazine 33 is arranged to be inserted endwise in the casing I6 of the razor head and when this is to be done the casing is temporarily depressed, as shown in Fig. 4, so that its upper 2,ao4,s14 3 in advance. The slot i9 provided by the overhanging wall of the casing It will receive the pro- ,iecting edge of the top wall 34. of the magazine, whereas if the magazine is accidentally reversed, the protecting top wall will strike the rear wall of the casing and prevent introduction of the magazine.

When the magazine has once been properly presented, however, the action of the spring I4 is such that the uppermost blade 30 in the magazine is lifted into yielding engagement with the arms 22 of the feed device, as indicated at one end of the blade shown in Fig. 11. In order to project the blade forwardly from the magazine through the exit slot is and out above the guard I! of the casing IS the feeding device is first moved rearwardly from the position shown in Fig. 1 to the position shown in Fig. 2. In this movement the feeding dogs 23 are retracted sufflciently to permit them to drop into the notches II in the opposite ends of the uppermost'blade 30. When the feeding device is now moved forwardly the dogs 23 advance the uppermost blade about one-half its width, from the position shown in Fig. 13 to that'shown in Fig. 12, that is to say, the rear edge of the blade is advanced so that it will snap over the longitudinal shoulder in the inner face of the top wall 34 of the magazine. The shaving edge of the blade is thus advanced above the guard ll into shaving position as indicated in Fig. 3. It is securely supported in this position for the shaving operation, being positively backed up by the shoulder in the upper wall 34 of the magazine and pressed upwardly against the overhanging edge of the top wall of the casing l6 by the action of the spring ll supplemented by thev spring 35. The top wall of the casing 16, specifically its overhanging edge, thus acts as a support for the operative blade in the razor.

At the conclusion of the shaving operation the feeding device is again moved rearwardly and the dogs 23 now dropped behind the rear edge of the blade 30 which is still in shaving position. When the feeding member is advanced for the second time that blade is ejected forwardly from its shaving position and discharged from the razor.

It will be seen that each movement of the feeding device advances the uppermost blade forwardly one-half its width. The first step carries it from the magazine into shaving position and the second step carries it ,out of the razor. The blades as they are advanced into shaving position are engaged only at their ends by the notches 3| and at no time is the cutting edge of a blade brought into contact with a blade preceding it or with any part of the razor. This is a beneficial result achieved by the two-stroke cycle of the feeding device above explained.

It is believed to be broadly new to rely upon the magazine as one of the elements for holding the blade in shaving position. In the construction above described the top wall of the magazine is shouldered and utilized to back up and positively determine the transverse position of the blade, while the front wall of the magazine in cooperation with the arms 22 of the feeding device determines its vertical position.

The magazine disclosed herein is claimed per structure a casing containing a stack of unwrapped blades, a guard projecting outwardly from the casing, the casing being open to expose both ends of the uppermost face of a blade in the stack, feeding arms overlying the exposed face ends of the saidblade for feeding the blade over theguard, and means for yieldingly urging the blade and said arms toward each other.

2. A magazine safety razor including in its structure a head having aguard and a magazine enclosure, a magazine in said enclosure containing a stack of blades and having a longitudinal shoulder in its upper wall, and a feeding device movable to advance the uppermost blade of the stack until its rear edge is positively backed up by the stationary shoulder of the magazine, the cutting edge of the blade being thereby located on the guard in shaving position.

3. A magazine safety razor including in its structure a head having a guard and magazine enclosure, a magazine in said enclosure containing a stack of blades and having a shoulder in one well located substantially half way between the front and rear walls of the magazine, and a feeding device movable in a predetermined path limited in extent to substantially one half the width of the blade, whereby a blade may be advanced to shaving position above the guard and held while projected only one half its width from the magazine.

4. A magazine safety razor including in its structure a stationary magazine having a longitudinal shoulder in one wall intermediate its front and rear edges, a guard member and a feeding device movable in a fixed path for advancing a blade half way out of the magazine to a position wherein its rear edge is backed up by the shoulder and its cutting edge overlies the said guard member.

5. A magazine safety razor including in its structure a blade support, a magazine enclosure adjacent thereto, a magazine of blades in said enclosure, said magazine having an internal blade-engaging shoulder in one wall, and a feeding device movable in a fixed path to advance a blade part way out. of the magazine and into shaving position on the blade support while leaving its rear portion supported in position by the shoulder within the magazine.

6. A magazine safety razor including in its structure a magazine having a stack of flat blades with notches located in both end edges of each blade, a blade support, and feeding means for advancing a blade from the magazine to the support comprising feeding dogs having portions shaped to enter both of said notches and other portions located to ride on the blade surface adjacent to the notches and being movable in parallel paths to advance the blade by both ends simultaneously.

7. A magazine safety razor including in its structure a forked horizontally movable feedin device, a magazine-enclosing casing located with clearance within said device and movable vertically between the upper and lower forks thereof, a guard formed as a part of said casing, and yielding means for relatively moving the casing and feeding device to clamp a blade in shaving position above the guard.

8. A magazine safety razor including in its structure a handle, a forked feeding device transversely movable upon the handle, a spindle longitudinally movable under spring control within the handle, and a magazine-enclosing casing conforks of the said feeding device, and tongue and groove connections between the casing and feeding device to prevent angular displacement between the two.

10. A magazine safety razor having a head with a magazine-enclosing casing provided with an exterior blade support, a magazine containing a stack of end-notched blades and shaped to expose the ends only of the uppermost blade in the stack and to cover the rest of the blade, and a feeding device having arms spaced to engage the ends of said uppermost blade and being movable in a path limited to one-half the width of the blade in advancing a blade out from under the covering portion of the magazine.

11. A magazine safety razor including in its structure a head having a stationary cover member and containining a stack of blades maintained initially in inclined position therein, blade-feeding means for advancng the outermost blade from.

one side of the stack, and means for causing the stack to change its position to substantially horizontal when the said blade has been advanced approximately one-half its width from initial position. v

12. A magazine safety razor having a head,

a magazine contained in the head and co-operating therewith to support a blade in shaving position while the blade is still partially contained within the magazine, the magazine containing a stack of blades surrounded and protected by a packing of grease.

13. A magazine safety razor having a head with an external guard member, and a magazine partially enclosed within the head and located less than the width of a blade from the guard, a

the blades and occupying-the interstices of the magazine enclosure.

14. A magazine safety razor having a head with an external guard, aremovable magazine enclosed within the head and having a bladelocatingshoulder in its top wall for determining the transverse shaving position of a blade in use,

and a front wall yieldingly pressed against the under surface of the blade to determine its vertical position with reference to the guard.

15. A magazine razor having a head with a'guard, a removable magazine enclosed by the head and having a shoulder in onewall for determining the transverse position of a blade in shaving position above the guard while a part of the head determines the vertical position of the blade above the guard.

16. A magazine razor having a head enclosing a removable magazine containing a stack of end-notched blades, a guard external to the head,

1 and means for feeding a blade from the magazine to position above the guard including a dog stepped to enter an end notch of the blade and at the same time rest upon its surface.

17. A magazine razor having a handle, a magazine-carrying head yieldingly movable in one direction on the handle, a feeding device transversely movable in a fixed path with respect to the head and limiting its movement on the handle, and spring actuated operating means for the feeding device mounted in the handle.

18. In a magazine safety razor, a head having a magazine enclosure open at its end and provided in one side with a blade exit slot and an adjacent channel, in combination with a magazine shaped to slide into the enclosure and having a projecting portion shaped and located to enter said channel when the magazine is presented in one position and to prevent the magazine from entering in all other positions. 19. A magazine razor having a handle, walls forming an elongated enclosure of rectangular cross-section carried by the handle, a blade magazine contained within the enclosure and having its top wall cut away to expose the ends of blades therein, and a forked feeding device transversely movable on the end of the handle, one fork being guided in a path beneath the said enclosure and the other fork including parallel arms spaced from each other and shaped to engage the opposite ends of a blade in the said magazine.

20. A magazine safety razor including in its structure a feeding device, means in the razor structure for holding the feeding device against vertical movement and guiding it for movement in a horizontal direction, a casing containing a stack of blades and having an external guard for a blade in shaving position, the said feeding device being shaped to receive the casing with clearance, and means for moving the casing yieldingly in a vertical direction with respect to the feeding device.

JOSEPH MUROS. 

